Passengers riding with the region's largest transit authority are now able to use their smartphones for payment across all available public transportation service offerings, Pittsburgh Regional Transit announced.
It comes two years after mobile payments for bus fares began following a pilot program in early 2021. At the time, PRT said tighter federal regulations on light rail transportation prevented it from rolling out the feature to its "T" transit offering, which services sections of the suburbs in the South Hills and areas of the South Side, downtown and North Side.
But now after remedying a solution to those guidelines, all 80 light rail trolley vehicles can accept payments via the scanning of a barcode on a phone screen following the purchasing of a ticket. It joins Pittsburgh's two inclines and all 700 buses on PRT routes throughout Allegheny County as possessing this capability, an option that has become common across many public transit networks globally in recent years.
"We are thrilled to finally launch mobile ticketing across our entire network," PRT CEO Katharine Kelleman said in a prepared statement. "Now, whether you ride the bus, rail, either incline, or across different modes to get where you’re going, you’ll have access to the best our system has to offer."
Mobile ticketing is supplied by Masabi, a London-based tech firm that manages fare collections for transit authorities around the world. Tickets can be purchased via PRT's "Ready2Ride" app or from the Transit app, both of which are available in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
PRT said mobile ticketing is used to pay for 13% of trips across its network. The authority is working with local retailers to finalize agreements that would permit riders to convert cash into their mobile ticketing accounts.
